CAS Advising Guidelines

Overview

This CAS advising guide is intended to provide answers to common questions about advising that arise in the College of Arts and Sciences.  The guidance provided here is not official; please consult the catalog for the year in which you entered your major for official policies and requirements.  The catalog requirements prevail if there are changes to requirements, and the catalog requirements are different from what is presented below.

Any substitutions or exceptions to degree requirements (university, college, or major requirements) must be approved by the chair and the CAS Dean or designee, using the official form for substitutions.

 

University Degree Requirements

The Undergraduate Catalog is the official record for degree requirements.  Students should consult the catalog for the year in which they entered their major for all official degree requirements. 

Student are required to:

  • Complete at least 25% of course credits required to complete the bachelor’s degree at UMass Dartmouth
  • Complete at least 21 of their upper division (numbered 300 or higher) course credits at UMass Dartmouth
  • Complete a minimum of 30 upper division (numbered 300 or higher) course credits
  • Maintain a 2.0 GPA for all courses taken in the major. Some majors have GPA requirements higher than a 2.0; see below for major specific requirements
  • Have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0
  • Complete a minimum of 120 credits
  • Complete University Studies, College, and Major requirements
  • No University Studies, College, or Major requirements may be taken pass/fail
 University Studies Requirements

Students should consult the official University Studies page for a list of requirements and approved courses.  University Studies courses can also be counted to fulfill College and Major requirements.

 

College of Arts and Sciences Requirements

The College of Arts and Sciences has additional requirements for students completing BS and BA degrees.  Some of these requirements overlap with University Studies requirements, but students are required to complete their college requirements as well as their University Studies requirements. 

Here are fillable tracking sheets covering the University Studies Requirements as well as the CAS College Requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree (CAS Reqs for BS fillable form) and for the Bachelor of Arts degree (CAS Reqs BA fillable form).

Double Majors

Some students complete more than one major; the choice of the majors may affect college requirements.

  • Students who have one major in CAS and one major in a different college (Business, Engineering, Nursing, or Visual and Performing Arts) do not have to complete CAS requirements
  • Students with two majors in CAS must complete college requirements, but there is some flexibility in fulfilling those requirements.
    • Two majors in same council (Humanities, Social Science, Interdisciplinary)
      • Students may count up to two major courses (6 credits) towards the college requirement for that same council
      • Example: Student majoring in PSC and ECO could count:
        • two PSC courses towards the social science requirement
        • or two ECO courses towards the social science requirement
        • or one PSC and one ECO course towards the social science requirement
    • Two majors in different councils (Humanities, Social Science, Interdisciplinary)
      • Students in two different councils may count up two major courses towards the college requirements
      • Example: Student majoring in HST and PSY could count:
        • one HST course for the humanities requirement and one PSY course for the social science requirement
        • or two HST courses for the humanities requirement
        • or two PSY courses for the social science requirement
    • Two majors one BA and one BS
      • Students can choose to either complete the B.A. college requirements or the B.S. college requirements
    • Departmental major plus an Inter-disciplinary major
      • Students may count up to two major courses (6 credits) towards the college requirements
      • The student has the option to count:
        • two major courses towards the social science requirement
        • or two major courses towards the humanities requirement
        • or one major course towards the social science requirement and one major course towards the humanities requirement
    • Students pursuing more than one major within the college may be able to also count some of their courses for both majors, at the discretion of their department chairs and with approval from the dean
Minors
  • Students who select a minor in CAS need at least two courses at any level that do not overlap with their major requirements.
  • The minimum requirements for completing a minor are 18 credits, 9 of which must be at the 300- or 400-level. Some minors have additional requirements.
  • Adopting a minor, however, does not affect college requirements.
  • Students whose major is not in the College of Arts & Sciences but who adopt a minor in the College of Arts & Sciences, do not need to complete the College of Arts & Sciences college requirements.
Natural Sciences Requirement
  • Students who are completing college requirements as they existed prior to Fall 2024 and who have completed two natural science courses with labs (8 credits) can seek permission from the chair and Dean to have the college science distribution requirement fulfilled.
  • Students who are completing college requirements in effect beginning Fall 2024 are only required to complete 6 credits of Natural Science coursework.
4+1 Bachelor’s and Master’s Programs
  • Students participating in 4+1 programs have specific requirements to follow:
    • No more than 15 credits can count towards both degrees. Some programs have different rules; see below. See here for more information.
    • To formalize the 4+1 agreement, students must complete an interest form prior to the final year of undergraduate studies. See here for more information.

Major Specific Requirements

Requirements for each major are listed in the Catalog; students should consult the catalog for the year they declared their major for the official record of requirements for those majors. 

Crime and Justice Studies
  • Students seeking admission to Crime and Justice Studies must have a minimum overall GPA of 2.0
  • In order to graduate as a CJS major, students must maintain a minimum of a 2.75 GPA in the major
Health and Society
  • All courses counting for the HLT major must be passed with a minimum of a C-.
  • Students must maintain a minimum of a 2.75 GPA in the major.
Liberal Arts
  • No more than one course that overlaps with concentrations can be used to fulfill College requirements
Psychology
  • Students must have earned a C- or better in any psychology course taken to meet the requirements listed as required courses
  • In order to graduate as a PSY major, students must maintain a minimum of a 2.5 GPA in the major
  • Students in the combined BA-MA program will take four graduate courses as senior year electives that will also apply toward the MA degree (12 credits)
Public Administration
  • Economics and Political Science courses that do not count towards the PAD major can count toward College Social Science requirements
Sociology and Anthropology
  • Complete all courses counting for the major with a C- or higher
  • Maintain a minimum of 2.5 GPA in the major